2018 – 2019 Season

2018—2019 Season at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The 21st Century Consort, award-winning contemporary music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution for over four decades, embarks on its thirteenth season at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium. Artistic Director Christopher Kendall presents a season of new music and high drama featuring artists Paul Cigan, Lisa Emenheiser, Dan Foster, Lee Hinkle, Alexandra Osborne, Sara Stern, and Rachel Young.

ATTENDANCE IS FREE. Seating begins at 3:30, and all who attend the 4:00 pre-concert discussion are guaranteed seats. Past performances suggest that seats will likely be available for all until the performance itself, at 5:00 pm.

All concerts are at 5:00, preceded by a 4:00 discussion with composers and performers, and followed by a post-concert reception.

“Sites Unheard”

A sly musical take on the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibition of artist Trevor Paglen, who makes the invisible world visible via photography and video, journalism, geo-politics, and astronautical engineering, documenting the infrastructures of American surveillance. The Consort surveils music by a select database of extant American composers.Read the printed program now for this concert.

Scrooge Opera film premiere

Special Event: Film maker Paul H. Moon’s film of Jon Deak’s “The Passion of Scrooge, or a Christmas Carol” will receive a premiere screening, free to the public, at 3:30 PM in McEvoy Auditorium prior to the concert. View an introductory video now for this premiere.

“Between Worlds”

Bill Traylor is one of the most celebrated American self-taught artists, whose life spanned slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Great Migration and foreshadowed the era of Civil Rights, offering a rare perspective to the large story of America. The Consort’s music probes subjects and stories that inhabit Traylor’s remarkable work.Read the printed program now for this concert.

Special Event: Film maker Paul H. Moon’s film of Jon Deak’s “The Passion of Scrooge, or a Christmas Carol” will receive a premiere screening, free to the public, at 3:30 PM in McEvoy Auditorium prior to the concert. View an introductory video now for this premiere.

“All You Need is Love”

Well, maybe it’s not ALL you need; a little music is also good. For Valentine’s Day, the Consort digs deep to find contemporary classical music that explores the subject of romance viewed from multiple vantage points, in a program that ends with a Valentine surprise.

In light of recent and potential “circumstances beyond their control” effecting the Smithsonian, you may not be entirely surprised to learn that the Consort’s February 16th concert won’t be happening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Instead the beautiful St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capital Hill has generously agreed to be the venue for “All You Need Is Love.” We’re very much looking forward to it and to seeing you there! Read the printed program now for this concert.

“Black Angels”

A harrowing and formative period for many in America, 1965-1975 is the subject of SAAM’s exhibition “America and the Vietnam War.” The Consort mounts a musical corollary with works that speaks to the tenor of the times and the themes that still radiate from them. Read the printed program now for this concert.